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Monday, June 23, 2014

Disclosure:This post was sponsored by Glidden® paint through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Glidden paint, all opinions are my own.

This tired, old Windsor Chair was pretty in need of a sprucing up, don't you think?

A fantasic example of an authentic Windsor Back Chair, the only thing holding it back from being fabulous was it’s awful, beat-up, beige paint job. Originally, I thought I would stain this chair, but I fell hard for a certain color of blue from Glidden® paint. I loved the idea of a blue patina on this old chair and knew I could come close to the antique inspiration piece that I found in an old book that my Dad had kicking around.

Because you never want painted furniture to look gloppy, or thick, and because I didn’t want to have to sand all of the Windsor rungs on this baby, I decided to use Glidden paint DUO, which is a paint + primer in one. DUO went on incredibly smooth. I was able to let it sit overnight and then move on to the patina part of the finish the next day.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

{I'm on my Soap Box today, because I want to rant about something that I think you should be aware of...because gardening isn't just about pretty flowers, it can be about your health, as in this case.}

A few weeks ago, while out looking for mulch and a few geraniums, I was completely shocked when I stumbled upon rows and rows of Japanese Barberry bushes. I was at Home Depot.

Why was I shocked? After all, Japanese Barberry is a pretty common sight. Just drive down your landscaped city streets in Draper, UT and you'll see them. They're pretty popular in new housing developments, too. And after a bit of research I found that it is readily available at Home Depot, Lowe's, and Walmart. Chances are you may have one in your own yard.

But most independent, local nurseries don't carry it. And most gardening experts feel that it is not only irresponsible to plant it, but consider it a hazard.

Why?

Because Japanese Barberry is a highly invasive, non-native species.

And that's not all...

While parents research poisonous plants and Google whether they should have a Poinsettia in their home at Christmas, very few people are aware of the proven, dangerous link between Japanese Barberry and Lyme Disease.

Japanese Barberry plants are the perfect haven for ticks. Ticks which are most likely infested with Lyme Disease, among other diseases. This information has been available for years. And yet major landscaping retailers, and even landscapers themselves continue to sell, promote and plant this threat.

Still not convinced that you should dig up the Japanese Barberry in your yard, call your local town hall and tell them that they should dig up the Japanese Barberry in the town park, or call Home Depot and ask them to take it off their shelves?

Read this article from Scientific American. I'm not an expert on this subject, but Scott Williams, Research Scientist Department of Forestry and Horticulture at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) is and he says,

"But we’ve documented factually that, indirectly, this invasive plant can have a negative effect on human health. When you start telling people that this plant can negatively affect them, their pets, their children, then they start paying attention."

Dig them up and discuss with your local nursery what native alternatives you can plant instead of Japanese Barberry.

So what's on tap for this month? We're partnering up with Lamps Plus on this project and shining a little light in our lives in the way of shaded swags. We'll be using single and/or multi swag convert kits to turn shades into pendants. I can't wait to see how everyone incorporates these into their homes. And to make this month even better one of my favorite bloggers will be playing along - Abby of Abby M Interiors.

If you aren't already following her blog you need to be. Now. I was lucky enough to meet Abby at Alt this past January after having followed her blog and social media accounts. She's non-stop fabulous!

A HUGE 'thank you'to Abby for joining the Challenge Crew this month; I'll be sitting June out while I visit family on the East Coast (follow my adventures on IG)! Be sure to check back in with Abby, Sara,Rosa, Erin and Tricia on the last Friday of the month to see how we do the swag.